TAXI DRIVER BEATEN UP IN HIS CAB WAS TOLD TO MAKE HIS OWN WAY TO HOSPITAL

A TAXI driver beaten unconscious in his cab says he was told to make his own way to hospital while the yob who assaulted him was treated for a "panic attack".

Granddad Rob King, 64, suffered a broken cheekbone and lost a front tooth in the alleged unprovoked attack.

He was punched repeatedly through the open window of his car as he waited for a fare outside a pizza shop in Sheerness, Kent.

But when he called 999 he was told that ambulance crews were too busy and that he would have to make his own way to hospital.

He was punched repeatedly through the open window of his car as he waited for a fare outside a pizza shop in Sheerness, Kent.

But when he called 999 he was told that ambulance crews were too busy and that he would have to make his own way to hospital.

He was driven by a cabbie colleague to Medway Maritime Hospital where he was told his alleged attacker was treated rather than him.

Former boxer Mr King added: "You couldn't make it up".

His partner Dhareigne Pearson, 56, said that after the July 1 attack Rob was scared to go back to work.

She told the Sheerness Times Guardian newspaper today: "Rob was waiting for a fare outside a kebab shop when this yob came over and punched the hell out of him through the open window.

"It was so fast and vicious that it knocked him for six."

A spokesman for the South East Coast Ambulance Service confirmed that it was called to attend Mr King at 3.20am, but that due to a "high level of demand", operators asked him to make his own way to hospital.

They also confirmed that an ambulance was sent to treat a man outside the Cyprus Kebab & Pizza takeaway at 3.50am who was "having trouble breathing'"- with paramedics staying with him for an hour.

The spokesman said: "Because we had a very high level of demand that night we asked if he (Mr King) could make his own way to hospital as the injuries weren't life-threatening.

"We later received a call at 3.50am to a man outside the Cyprus Kebab & Pizza shop who was having trouble breathing.

"We sent one ambulance crew which stayed with him for an hour. He didn't require hospital treatment."

The spokesman added: "We apologise to the taxi driver, but this was an extremely busy night mainly because of the hot weather."

A Kent Police spokesman confirmed that a 19-year-old man had been arrested at the scene and had now been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm.